


Veronica Knows Best

by Nezanie



Category: Dragon Quest XI
Genre: F/M, erik relates to that, spoilers for up to part 2, the luminary is called eleven, veronica is a big sister
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:34:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22137874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nezanie/pseuds/Nezanie
Summary: Veronica watches her sister grow at her own pace and she recalls all the times that people failed to see Serena as who she truly was, a young woman as talented and amazing as her elder sibling. As they sit around the campfire, so very close to their goal, Veronica confides in her traveling companions her worries and affection for her sister as she seems to grow closer to Eleven.
Relationships: Hero | Luminary/Seña | Serena
Kudos: 21





	Veronica Knows Best

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to know more about the sisters in a way

Erik sighed happily wiggling into a comfortable position. They had been traveling non stop lately, and barely finding a place to rest at night, so it was a nice change of pace to be resting their weary bones in a camp. The holy statue, stone eyes mercifully looking down at their gang, kept them safe within the confines of her powerful monster repelling grace. 

Veronica gave a similar puff of breath near him although it didn’t seem for relief at their pit stop in the wild. He kept one open eye on her waiting for her to speak.

“Everybody keeps pointing out to me how Serena is always one step behind me,” she made a face at the implication, it was nothing but absurd to Veronica, “She can be a bit slow, I’ll admit but how can they not see? I guess they don’t see her how I do…”

Erik shifted around on his stack of hay, a makeshift perch for his back to lean on as he stared up at the stars. The exhaustion from non stop journeying had probably caught up to the pipsqueak making her more talkative. Finding the last orb before Sniflheim’s had proven a little troublesome when there wasn’t good gossip to go by. 

_ ‘Now that I think of it, we only know they’re the hero’s guardian angels or something from Arboria or wherever,’ _ he thought without worrying much, he couldn’t really press for their pasts or anything.

With the discovery of the magic key, they had opted to follow the winds and open some doors to new goodies, hoping that a juicy morsel of a tidbit would be served on their plate. They had already passed through Zwaardust and returned to Sniflheim for yet another battle, the rough climb to Arboria had left them rather exhausted only for the party to barely stop at the twin’s home before setting off again.

Jade had hummed to herself commenting to Erik absently how lovely their parents had been,  _ ‘Don’t look much like them do they though?’ _ She hadn’t really given Erik time to respond. The twins seemed more focused on one another as family goes, Erik could relate but he wasn’t about to press them for some sob story of a past. He had his own to deal with and they had helped him enough to earn his respect and their privacy. Jade seemed to be of the same thought and never brought it up either.

“What?” Veronica glared at the hand patting the ground next to Erik’s side. The first forest campsite on their way to Yggdrasil kept her on edge for some reason.

“Sharing stories would be easier if you sat down,” he said with a little snark in his voice. She growled under her breath stomping to his side and sitting rather aggressively, her small arms crossed over her chest. “So what brought this up? Seeing her get along with Eleven? Are you getting lonely because that’s hardly a reason.”

“She’s in love,” Veronica muttered.

“Yes, she is in love,” he replied nudging her gently.

Veronica clicker her tongue watching her baby sister expertly plucking flowers even in the barely illuminated area within the reaches of a lantern’s orange light. Deftly she entwined the little things into a makeshift crown. Serena giggled softly at Eleven’s own attempt coming undone. He frowned shaking his head at the failure. With a smile, he leaned closer as Serena patiently showed him the steps once more. Their hands brushed as they softly whispered to one another under the most romantic night sky filled with bright dots all over brilliantly flickering as if the egg on the pair.

Erik yawned terribly, he didn’t even try to cover the monstrous action, “I wonder if she’d figured it out.” He said halfway through sounding rather off.

Veronica bristled. “Of course she knows she’s in love with him, she’d not daft!” She smacked his arm with the back of his hand as he shook his head with a chuckle.

“I meant that he reciprocates,” he elaborated raising his eyebrows and challenging Veronica to snap again.

“Ah,” she replied, feeling the anger that puffed her up dissipate replaced by a sheepish mood, “Sorry, it’s just nobody thinks Serena is anything but my dunce little sister,  _ and _ she doesn’t even get angry at that,”

Veronica leaned back imitating Erik who got as comfy as he could. She stared at the horizon where a little bit before the blue evening sky had given way to a beautiful blood red sunset. The wondrous dusktime had given them the extra incentive to save their beautiful world.

“They make a cute pair,”

The melodious voice bringing their friend’s insight had caught the pair by surprise. Veronica and Erik nearly jumped out of their skin away from one another when their shoulders had just about been touching. 

A grinning - near cackling at their expense to be precise - Jade winked at them before sitting cross legged next to Veronica and giving a nod towards the two lovebirds. “Is your sister waiting for him to make the first move?”

“No...Yes? I’m not sure, she is a bit shy, and a little aloof,” she felt a little guilty but her little sister could be a tad ditzy, and sometimes reluctant in choices where Veronica would be bursting through at the highest speed. “It’s a little annoying, you know, having to point out that I’m not outshining her at all,”

“Hmmm?” Jade hummed, without really pressing her to continue. She gave her the opportunity to open up with no strings attached and for the first time in her life Veronica felt she could trust another with her thoughts.

“ _ I _ …” she took a deep breath and started again, “I’ve  _ always _ loved magic. You can make people smile not just defend them,I used to have the time of my life making all the colourful bursts of magic, fire, lightning, and so on dance around the sky.” She raised her arms as if to emphasize her enthusiasm, “It was so exhilarating for me and my friends loved to watch,”

“Oh?” Jade said seemingly absently. Erik remained silent, the twins rarely talked about themselves so in their own way they encouraged Veronica to trust in them.

“Serena says she doesn’t remember much before our life in Arboria, I think we probably fled from monsters, nothing new in this world. Lots of orphans around,” she confided moving her gaze towards the blistering fire, “Someone left us there, and obviously it was fate and all to end up in there being reincarnations and all that. Father Benedictus said he was sure our parents would take good care of us and they did! It’s the common tale with a happy ending and a little bit of adventure down the line,”

Erik snickered, thinking about all the twists and turns that had led them all together and how some of them were very much related to the Luminary’s first companions, “With a side dish of mighty convenient coincidences,”

“Right! Serenica being our previous life pretty much granted us access to being taught magic, and of the highest orders, so its not all that bad.” she grimaced at a far off memory, “Though I guess I could have tried to burn a few less shrubs in my enthusiasm,”

They all laughed tiredly at the little bit of good humor she led them into.

“I can imagine your frustration,” Erik teased, making an angry face in imitation of Veronica puffing out his cheeks and shaking his head.

The girl pouted kicking him in the shin, “You’re not wrong but hush would you. I hated not being in control, it took awhile and after a few tries I got the hang of it,”

As if sensing where the story would follow, Jade stretched her legs out and asked, “How did Serena fare then?”

“Our teachers couldn’t understand why she lagged behind so much, called me a genius and left her to her own devices,” Veronica pursed her lips, shrugging, “I showed her everything later anyway but…,”

Jade giggled certain the elder sister would give them a piece of her mind, “I’m sure you let them know you didn’t appreciate it,”

“Yes, well, I was young and being praised got to my head,” she admitted flushing at her own childish ignorance, “I was a bit more temperamental,”

Erik coughed in his fit of laughter, swallowing a little spit the wrong way down, “Yikes! Even more than grown up Veronica?” He jested.

“Stop interrupting would you!” she jabbed a finger into his ribs as he raised his hands to defend his sides. He looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. Jade on her right kept snickering behind a hand.

“Serena just never liked showing off, I never quite understood that side of her until we grew a little older.” Veronica placed her chin on the perch of her hands, folding her knees neatly beneath her, “She’s like the wind, you can’t bind her down, she’s free, gentle and stronger when she needs to be,” she sighed a little worriedly, “She’s far too kind for her own good to be honest. It’s not that she’s not capable,”

Veronica recalled one of their training sessions when Serena had gotten scolded rather harshly. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't learn the basic fire spell Frizz, and it was of utmost importance to be prepared to guide the Luminary - at least that's what the instructor kept repeating rather sternly.

_ ‘You’re so amazing Veronica,’ _ her baby sister would praise her after their lessons seemingly undeterred by their teachers chiding. Veronica thought nothing phased Serena and didn’t think about it much. Or so she said to herself rather untruthfully, it was plain to see the redness of Serena’s puffed out eyes when she came back from her evening walks.

“One day, I found her in our grove, surrounded by books,” she smiled remembering the shivers she felt coursing through her tiny body, stopping mid cry as she called out for her younger sister to come home for dinner. She stood transfixed watching Serena, concentrating as magic rippled through her small self under the shade of the tree they loved to play beneath. Her mouth shut closed with a snap.

Serena shuffled forward picking up a small bird, he seemed dead as he lay motionless in her palm. Mumbling something to the creature, a bubbly green light developed the avian. As Veronica held her breath the bird sprang back to his feet, he chirped happily as he fluttered around Serena's hands as if to thank her. The giddy sounds of a serene child echoed around their grove.

Veronica still gasped at the memory, even as she told her friend about it, “She’d learned healing spells off books, we weren’t supposed to cover them until we gained more control. It’s not pretty messing up a spell that's supposed to mend things, it can be worse than a Frizz blowing up in your face!”

“Wow,” Jade blinked flabbergasted, she had an inkling of magical studies as a princess, her eyes turned back to the giggling, flirtatious pair. Eleven had given up on his own crown placing loose flowers around Serena’s hair. He tried showing off his braiding skills, a talent he's nurtured helping his friend Gemma. In return, he pointed at the flower crown Serena had made and tapped the top of his head leaning down so she could easily place it on top. The girl gently dropped her creation on his head, adjusting it so it would fit snugly. It was heartwarming to see them frolic so freely before their biggest task as of yet.

“She’s beat me to a lot of things you know, she just doesn’t really like the spotlight,” Veronica growled at the blindness of some people, “She’s just so humble, and she doesn’t want to worry people and it just makes me worry all the more!”

“She’s a good kid, brilliant,” Erik nudged Veronica, “We know it and that’s what’s important,”

“She’s got us out of a pinch so many times I lost count,” Jade readily agreed, “You must be as proud as you are overprotective,”

“Come on don’t tease me too,” she implored Jade who simply shrugged at her.

Veronica stifled a yawn of her own, stretching her arms above her head, “No matter what as an older sister I’m going to worry but she’s more than my equal, she’s my sister, I know that, ditzy or not, she’s always walked this path right beside me,”

She slumped against the stack of hay quite suddenly, “I just can’t help but still be a teensy bit worried,”

Erik planted a hand on her head which was cruelly swatted away. He rolled his eyes settling by patting her shoulder, “You’ll see this through together, you’ll see,”

Veronica seemed a little emotional for a moment surprising her two companions. Her eyes moved towards the world tree above them and she seemed to see something they couldn’t, smiling melancholically at the sight. A gloomy feeling clutched their hearts making it difficult to ignore the bad premonition at the back of their mind that things were going a little too smoothly lately. Was it just the sadness that their journey would soon come to an end and they had to part ways?

“I hope you’re right Erik,” she whispered rather weakly for a girl with usually so much fire in her heart.

Erik grasped her hand in his, “I am, you’ll see,”

Veronica laughed, the outrageous, confident voice rang so clearly in his ears, “At the very least, I’ll see Serena home with the person she loves, even if she can take care of everything without me, I’m the big sister after all,”

He didn’t think at the time much about the ominous meaning behind her words that she had meant it quite so literally. And as her younger sister stared stoic and solemn into the pyre built in Veronica’s honor, he stood shivering in the cold breeze. The townsfolk gathered in a line to offer a lock of their hair for her safe journey to the world tree. Their lifeline that no longer watched them from above and guaranteed they would meet in the next life.

It didn’t sit right with him, that Veronica couldn’t see just how right she was about Serena because an older sibling is meant to pull her younger siblings along in the world. And Erik promised he’d watch over Eleven and Serena in her stead, and that one way or another, they’d all meet again one day.


End file.
